


The Beast

by Hannibalistic



Category: Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Anal, Anal Sex, Baltimore, Beast - Freeform, Blood, Consent, Cream Pie, Forest Sex, Gore, Hannibal AU, Hardcore, I’m not sorry, M/M, Monster - Freeform, Public Sex, Smut, Wendigo Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham Gets a Blowjob From a Wendigo, Will Graham is a Mess, blowjob, it’s a lot, mlm, modern time, prey/predator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:00:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23864902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hannibalistic/pseuds/Hannibalistic
Summary: A recent string of gruesome murders leaves FBI agent, Wil Graham, searching for logical answers, but details leave him stumped for results until one fateful meeting leaves him utterly disturbed, yet unequivocally curious.
Relationships: Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Wendigo, Will Graham/Wendigo Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 11
Kudos: 279





	1. Slashing Factors

A recent string of gruesome murders has left the old town of Baltimore on their toes. Deep in the woods, bodies were beginning to pile up as if an animal had tore them to shreds. Hunters and fisherman, campers and hikers, all of them slain beyond recognition. Their blood and body parts splatter yards away deep into the woods. Soon, the town began to talk of a beast. A beast that stood six feet tall, with a humanoid body, deer antlers, and blank staring white eyes. Some said if you stayed out at night, and sat in the middle of the woods without moving, you could hear the sound of hoofs against the floor as it slowly stalked towards you, it’s hunger immeasurable.

Everyone stayed inside, too scared to dare step out of their homes. There was even a curfew issued by the city to stay indoors after 10:00pm, only skeptical teenagers dared to venture outside, and sometimes with deadly consequences. 

However, despite the city being under lockdown until investigators could track, hunt, and kill whatever this being was, one man remained ignorantly defiant, and that man was Will Graham. 

Will Graham, although not living in Baltimore, lived in rural Wolf Trap Virginia, which was only a short hour and a half away from Baltimore. With living in the middle of nowhere, he was surrounded by an area of thick woods. It was The perfect place for whatever this animal was to stalk him.

Will was a reclusive man. He stayed in a small cabin like house, living off of canned food with his five dogs, but he despite living a good few miles of the most recent case, he was aware of the slayings. Will was with the FBI on occasional cases, and this was just the same. He had been on the horrific crime scene, analyzing the gore and wound patterns. Will had seen what this thing was capable of, and he was sure it was not an animal. However, Will was not affected by any of this. He still took his dogs out for a walk in the morning, he still went fishing in the afternoon, and he still occasionally took strolls in the woods during nightfall. Only now, he did carry a gun. 

He knew people, especially his co-workers, thought he was stupid, reckless, stubborn, and a little bit arrogant for ignoring everything the media had to say about the situation, especially since he was hands on at the scene. Even Alana Bloom made sure he was inside his house on her way home everyday. It was only a matter of time before Will would meet the beast.

“Will.” A voice echoed behind him. The man jumped and turned around, seeing Jack Crawford standing behind him, his hands in his pockets. As he studied Will carefully. “You ok?” He asked.

“I just...I was just thinking.” Will blinked a few times, slowly coming back into reality as he was staring off into the distance.

“Come take a look at this.” 

He followed Jack over to the dreaded crime scene. This time it was a hunter who had gone out at 7:00pm and never returned. He was a father, and a husband.

“Gored just like the others, stomach torn open and everything.” Jack sighed, sick of seeing all these corpses falling like flies.

Will put his hand up to his nose, holding back a gag as the rancid smell reached his nose.

“The kidney is missing.” Beverly sighed, looking up at them as he had her hand inside the man’s chest cavity. “Whatever took it probably ate it.”

“Could it be a bear?” Jimmy asked.

“No, a bear doesn’t mutilate for sport” Will blocked, “Wolves—....Wolves do...sometimes. It’s rare that it happens, but...it can.” Will dropped his hand from his nose, “but they don’t so this.” Will gestured, “They can’t do a lot of this goring, even if it’s a pack they would still eat a part of the body. They aren’t...selective with parts— a-and even then there would be bite marks on the body.” Will rubbed his forehead as he started getting flustered, it had been almost a full week since the killings had start, and they couldn’t pin point anything. “They don’t know about kidneys or lungs or livers. A-And they wouldn’t go after people. They’re more afraid of us than we are of them.”

“You said they’re selective with what they take?”Jacked asked

”What ever it is, its deliberately tearing the body to get to the essential organs to...presumably eat them.”

”So maybe it’s not an animal...” Brian pointed out.

”What?” Jack looked at him.

“I don’t know. You hear the rumors? Somebody said they saw some humanoid being in the woods.” Brian shrugged.

Will chuckled bitterly: “What? Some mythical creature wandering the woods?” He scoffed, “You’ve been reading too many Freddie Lounds articles.”

“What if it is a person? Or a group of people.” Will turned to Jack as he spoke, and opened his mouth about to object, but then shut it as he thought.

“Humans...do kill for sport, but...this amount of gore? It’s...savagery.”

“We’ve seen some shit, Will, I wouldn’t put it below people.”

“That would explain the removal of the organs.” Brian added, “They tear the the chest, break open the rib cage, and remove the organs to share them with the others. Could be a cannibal cult.”He jested.

”There’s been no reports of cult activity.” Will added.

“Not that we know of.” Jack countered. 

“Then where did they come from? Are they people in the city? Are they outsiders? There would be a way to trace them, it wouldn’t be out of the blue.”

”Well, one thing’s for sure,” Beverly sighed, “It’s probably not an animal.”

”A-Actually it could be. Someone could of...trained an animal to do this sort of thing.”Will corrected.

”And then he carefully picked out the organs?” Beverley asked. 

Brian snorted.”No, the animal would of had some internal damage other than just the removal of the organs. Nothing else was damaged when they reached the inside.”

”Then how do we explain the scratches?” Will pointed out, “No amount of nail-filing can do that sort of damage.” 

Jack sighed.”Well, it’s fuckin’ something.” Jack sighed crossing his arms. “We’re gonna get a lot of heat if we don’t come up with something, and blaming it on some mythical creature wont help us.”

They had to wrap up the scene, already sending people out to inform the family of the causality.

Will couldn’t profile anything about this thing. It didn’t seem human, but it also seemed less likely that it was an animal. Will just couldn’t bring himself to believe a human was capable of this amount of damage.

He stayed for the autopsy, already knowing the cause of death. Mutilation. It had been down while the man was alive. He was trying to wrap his head around what it could be, however no animal came to mind. He had to think of people now, someone so messed up in the head that they could do this sort of thing. He saw himself killing the hunter, that he could imagine. It had stalked the man through the woods, and the man fired at it before he inevitably got got. That was animalistic. 

He decided there was nothing else he could do except research, and once he got home The reluctant researched In cannibals began.

Will didn’t find anything that really fit the profile. He found articles about “uncivilized” cannibalistic tribes that would slice then devour their victims insides. He found cannibalistic serial killers that would carefully remove the organs and cook them. He even went as far as to dig into some folk tales.

Soon, Will found himself on Freddie Lounds’s article about the murders, it was also his last resort. It talked about the lengthy shadow figure that roamed the woods. The black antlers and white, blank eyes. Some people called it a demon, other’s called it a fairy, but one description that caught Will’s attention in Freddie’s article was the Wendigo. He didn’t bother reading about what she had to say about it, and instead researched it himself.

The “Wendigo” had many origins, some said it started from Native American legends, other’s believed it came from the depths of hell, both seemed pretty outlandish. The theory about the mythical beings suggested that the creatures were originally humans who had turned into wendigos after consuming human flesh. 

Will leaned back in his chair, his eyes stinging And strained from the amount of blue light from his laptop screen. He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, feeling stupid for even considering a Freddie Lounds article seriously, let alone a mythical folk tale. 

Buster, one of his small dogs, suddenly barked at the door. Will looked over, seeing that all of his dogs were up looking at the door, some of them jumping up to look outside, their paws scratching at the door as if they had just seen somebody walk by. Their fur was raised and their tails up, pointing straight as a line. Will looked at all of them curiously and stood up before walking to the door carefully. He glanced outside. The sun was going down, and the sky was starting to break out into a vibrant, golden orange. Will scanned the horizon, not seeing anything That would of startled them.

”What is it guys?” He mumbled, squinting his eyes. Will’s dogs never barked for nothing, let alone display blatant defensive behavior out of the blue. He opened the door, unaware that Buster had run up beneath him, starting to head into the woods as he barked. 

“Hey! No! Buster! Get— goddamn it!” Will grabbed his coat and shuffled his dogs away from the door before he took off after Buster, listening for his aggressive And incessant barking. “Buster!” He called, still tugging on the rest of his coat. 

Will entered into the woods, following the little food prints Buster left. He called for his dog, whistling and clapping his hands, but the barking had stopped.

“Where the hell did you go?” He breathed. “Buster!” he went deeper into the woods, his breath turning to fog as he huffed. He stopped, cupping his hands around his mouth. “BUSTER!” His voice echoed through the woods. 

In the distance, he could hear a sudden bark. Will raised his brows, and jogged towards the sound. He whistled as he hurried after, Trying to get him to make another sound, however the bark was getting further away. It kept traveling deeper into the thicket of the woods. Will wasn’t about to give up, it was cold out, and Buster would probably freeze to death in when the sun went down. He held himself as it started to get colder As the sun went down, robbing him of any remaining warmth. The wind picking up slightly, rustling the scarce amount of leaves on the trees around him. 

Will heard the bark again, and grunted when it was still far off. He continued to jog through the woods, stumbling a little as he was getting harder to see as the sun was almost down by now. He stepped over a large log, and went he hit the floor, the crack of the twigs beneath him echoed around him. In that moment he realized everything was dead silent, there was no wind, no bugs, not even the trees dared to move. It was just the sound of his own heartbeat and breathing. Will found the stillness weird. It was as if someone had scared off all of the wildlife. 

He couldn’t hear Buster anymore either.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up, realizing how eerie it was. This was not normal. He proceeded with caution, moving slowly through the woods, whispering his beloved dog’s name. 

There was another bark, and Will stopped. Something about it was...off. It sounded like Buster, almost perfectly, but the tone was just...not right. He stopped moving now, the bark was definitely closer, and the more Will replayed them sound in his head, the more he realized it didn’t even sound like a proper dog. He felt a chill run down his spine as he remembered one of the articles he read about Wendigos, they could mimic voices. His heart jolted at the revelation, but he shook his head and pushed it out of his mind, it couldn’t be true, no way. It couldn’t be, he must’ve just been hearing it wrong. 

He continued walking, but made sure he made as little noise as possible as he traversed through the thick woods. As he began to travel deeper, he slowly began to see a clearing up ahead. He quickened his pace, already creeped out by the trees. He approached the clearing quickly, moving a branch out of his face as he stepped out of the woods, and saw his dog, Buster.


	2. The Wendigo

Buster was standing in the middle of the clearing, sniffing at something. A relief washed over Will as he realized it was Buster after all. He felt silly for even letting those stories get to him.

He walked over to Buster, going to pick him up before he realized what his dog was sniffing at. It was a deer’s corpses and it looked very familiar. The deer was gored, it’s ribs torn open, fur and flesh strewn about, and it’s heart and liver was missing. 

Will’s own heart jump into his throat as he heard a bark from directly behind him. He didn’t move, only hearing Buster growl below him. He was crouched down next to his dog slowly, holding his collar to keep him close. His mouth was dry, he couldn’t muster up enough courage to turn around. He slowly reached for his gun, only to realize he hadn’t taken it with him. Will closed his eyes, trying to keep his cool as he picked up Buster carefully and stood up. There was a crack of a branch from the tree line, and Will turned around sharply, but through the darkness he couldn’t see anything.

Will continued to stay still, he could feel where the thing was, it’s presences very prominent As if the thing wanted Will to know it was there. He could feel it circling him, sizing him up. Will swallowed hard trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness that surrounded him.

“H-Hello?” He asked, slowly following wherever he felt the creature was with his eyes. “I-I know you’re there.” He stepped back, “I know what you are.” The creature stopped moving, Wil; fixating on the location. “I’m...not going to hurt you.” He called out, “I’m just...going to take my dog....a-and go.” There was another crack as it got closer. Will took a few more steps back. “Is that ok?”

Two white orbs suddenly appeared, staring back at him. Will felt his breath get stuck in his throat as they got closer and lower, as if it was crawling on the floor. Will whimpered, and backed up further as Buster started to growl louder In his arms. The creature was only a few yards away from him before it stepped into the clearing, letting the moonlight illuminate it. The thing was sleek black, Like tar. It’s antler standing tall and branching out. It was indeed humanoid, it’s face staring at him with a sense of curiosity. Will could see the sharp features of it’s face through the moonlight.

”J-Jesus.” He said under his breath as he realized Freddie was right. It moved towards him carefully, and Will could sense its uncertainty as it approached.

“Um...H-Hi?” Will tried to stay calm, but he could feel his heart beating out of his chest. 

It replied:

“Hi.” 

Will tensed, it sounded like a distortion of his own voice. It had mimicked him. He slowly started to crouch down, holding his free arm out as if it say, “I’m unarmed.”

The Wendigo slowly tilted it’s head, only a foot between them. they seemed to stop and stare at one another for eternity, nothing moving or breathing. Will clutched Buster firmly, as even now the dog was scared. As the creature was hunched over, Will decided to grace it on it’s own level, slowly setTing Buster down as he knelt down With the creature.

The beast’s lips parted, slowly revealing it’s pearly white teeth that were stained red with blood. Will’s body couldn’t be any more tense as the creature was inches from his face, taking in Will’s features as Will was it. It raised is long hand, that looked more like a claw as it was pointed on the end, and slowly brought it to Will face. He flinched back and shut his eyes reflexively, and the being stopped, noticing his reaction.

“Hi.” It said again in his voice. 

Will slowly cracked open his eyes into slits, the creature moving it’s hand again, and rested it on Will’s cheek. It was ice cold. Will didn’t move, now more fascinated with the creature as he was confused as to why it was reaching out to him.

It tilted it’s head, and moved it’s hand down Will’s face to his neck. Both of them stared at one another again, pure terror and adrenaline racing through Will’s body as everything inside of him told him to run.

It suddenly grabbed his shoulder and pounced on him, knocking him onto his back as Buster shuffled out of the way and barked. The creatures barked back in return, but stared at Will as He became dizzy with terror. The creature had his wrists up to his head, and it leaned down, missing his face and moving to his ear.

“Hello.” It said, this time a much different voice. It was lower, with a bit of an accent. Will wondered if it was a victim’s, or if it was the creature’s own voice.

“H-Hello.” Will breathed softly. A moment of silence laid between him until a voice pierced the comfortable silence:

“Will!” 

The creature snapped up at the sound of a voice entering the woods. It looked back at Will, then got off of him, and by the time Will blinked, it was gone. Will sat up quickly.

”Wait!” He called under his breath, trying to search for where it had gone.

“Will?” He looked forward, seeing a flashlight breech the tree line. Will grabbed Buster and got up.

“O-Over here!” He brushed his hair out of his face, trying to act like nothing happened as he stumbled towards the voice. 

It was Alana.”What are you doing out here?” She asked, asking as if he was insane.

“B-Buster ran away, so I um...I-I followed after him.” She flashed her light behind him.

“What’s that?” She asked. Will turned around.

“A um...a dead deer” She walked towards him.”

That looks like...”

”Yeah...” Will nodded quickly, rubbing his chin. She looked around cautiously, scanning the tree line with her flashlight.

”It’s creepy out here...”

”W-We should go.” He walked past her, carrying Buster with him as they headed back to his house. 

Will’s eyes were wide, his face drained of colour as he reached his house, getting inside and letting Alana in. He set buster down and took off his coat hanging it up as he swallowed hard.”Are you ok, Will?” She asked, turning off her flashlight and tilting her head at him.

”I-I’m um....I’m fine.” He lied.

“You look pale.”

”I-It’s the cold.” 

Alana paused, searching his face.

“Did you...see something, Will?” He looked at her.

”I um...felt something.” She raised her brows, “Like um...something was watching me. I-I um...” Will walked over to his bed and sat down slowly, “When I was in the woods I could...hear Buster barking, a-and I followed after him.” Alana slowly walked over to him, “it seemed like I wasn’t getting any closer, b-but then it barked again and I realized that,” He shook his head, as if he was unsure he was believing what he said, “it wasn’t Buster it was...something mimicking Buster.” Alana furrowed her brows. 

“Mimicking?”She inquired.

”It sounded like him, but it sounded....off. Like it was distorted.”

”It could of been him.”

”Alana, I heard the bark after I found Buster.” 

“Could it of been another dog then?” She asked. Will knew it wasn’t a dog, but if he told her what he saw, she’d report him to Jack for a psycheval. Will sighed and nodded.

“I-I guess so.” She chuckled nervously, “I-it could of been a dog.” She nodded, “I-I guess I’m just a little freaked out, you know?”

”Do you need to take a break? Like, from work?”

”No, nah, I’m ok. The forest is always a little creepy right?” She smiled worriedly. “I’m um— I’m ok.” He still had trouble swallowing. ”W-Why are you here?”

”Just a house visit, making sure you’re ok.” Will smiled at her.

“T-Thank you.”

”You should probably make your curfew earlier since you live in the woods, Will.”

”Y-Yeah, I guess I should.” He nodded.

“Promise?”

”I promise.” Will smiled. 

“Good.” She put a hand on his shoulder, “Get some sleep.” Will nodded again, noting that he would not be sleeping tonight. 

He watched her leave, still sitting on his bed as he heard the car start up, and roll out of his yard. He stared blankly out the window, half expecting the creature to pop up. He slowly got up, his legs feeling like jelly as he went into his kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. He was still stuck in a state of shock, replaying the entire event in his head, over and over again.

He remembered how cold the being felt, it’s icy skin touching his own blood filled flesh. How its jet black skin glimmered in the moonlight. The creature was just as curious as he was. He wondered if they only reason it didn’t kill him was because it had just ate. Maybe it was because Will didn’t resort to violence first, trying to reach out to it by verbal soothing. However, Will did admitted to himself that he would of shot it if he had his gun on him.

He walked back to his door, staring outside the window, and just as he watched the sun set, he watched the sun rise.

Will didn’t realize how long he had actually been standing there until the sunlight burned his eyes. Will blinked a few times, confused as to where he was for just a moment. He stepped back, his feet wobbling and he feel back with a grunt, his dogs getting up and wandering over to him from their sleeping places. His head pounded and his feet ached as he laid on the floor. He slowly got up, dragging himself onto his bed as he felt exhausted. Will covered his face with his hands, forcing himself to believe it was just a bad dream as he fell into a troubled slumber.


	3. Interview

Will woke up in the afternoon, the sound of birds chirping and his dogs’s collars jingling. He took a deep breath and rolled onto his back, putting his hand on his forehead. His head was still throbbing as if someone had coiled barbed wire around it.  
“Must’ve just been a dream.“ Will nodded to himself and sat up, still trying to convince himself what he saw wasn’t real.

He stumbled to his kitchen, wolfing down two aspirins before putting his head under the sink to wash it down with water. turned off the faucet and whistled to his dogs as he waked to the front door. All of them got up and followed him to the door before he opened it, sending them outside. 

Will stuck his hands into his pockets and walked down his porch. He looked off into the trees, his eyes landing on the area where he ran into the woods. He thought about what happened, then pushed it out of his mind. He glanced back at his dogs, then back at the woods before he realized there were deer footprints in the snow. He furrowed his brows, wondering why a deer had traveled all the way out to his cabin. He started to follow them around to the side of his house. They stopped by his window, looking into a direct view of his bed. Will felt his blood go cold as he realized whatever it was only had two hoofs. 

Will backed up looking around frantically before he stumbled back landing on his butt. this had to be recent, maybe right when he fell asleep when the sun was still coming up? His paranoia set in and he jumped up, counting the number of dogs to make sure they were all there before ushering them back inside. There would be no walk today.

Will got changed into a new pair of clothes, he grabbed his gun and holstered it before he threw on his coat and went outside. He reluctantly followed his path back into the woods, seeing the faint reminisce of the night before. The more trail he saw, the more his nightmare seemed to be real. 

He was breathing shakily, barely able to walk as his knees ached, his whole body ached from standing for so long, that title nap hadn’t helped him fully recover.

Carefully, he entered the woods.  
The was audible noise of forest life around him. The wind, the crickets, everything seemed animated unlike the night before. He continued further into the woods, whipping around every time he thought he saw something, but it was only the trees. He came to the clearing and to his horror, the deer corpse was still there. He dropped to his knees, coming to terms with what he had saw. It was real, he hadn’t dreamt it, the beast was real after all. He stared at the corpse, the reddened snow around it’s body from the now dried blood as the inert creature laid next to a lone tree that was stuck in the clearing.

Will didn’t know what to do with this knowledge. Nobody would believe him. Jack wouldn’t, the city obviously wouldn’t take it as an answer. A Wendigo roaming the woods and killing people? It was psychotic. There was no way he could tell anyone, at least not anyone he was friendly with.  
After confirming his fear, he walked back into his house, tossing his gun onto a cabinet near by in frustration. He went to his laptop and opened it back up. The screen popped up, showing the Freddie Lounds article be was stuck on the night before. Will took a deep breath, kicking himself for what he was about to do:

“Hello, this is Freddie Lounds speaking.” Her sly voice came through the other line, cold and snide.

“I want to speak with you, Freddie.” There was a pause, and he thought he heard her scoff on the other line.

”Will Graham,” she sighed, “always nice to hear from you.”

“Can we meet?” He asked, getting straight to the point as he tried to hide his distain.

“Meet? In person?” She repeated with genuine shock.

”Yes, Freddie.” he said through clenched teeth.

“Must be serious....—Is Jack Crawford involved.” 

Will took a deep breath.”No, just me and you.” 

She paused again.”Is it about the recent murders?” 

”Yes.”

“Well, if you’re willing to give me an interview about the cases...I’m sure we can find a nice spot to work things out.” Will looked up at the ceiling, cursing whatever god that looked down on him.

“I don’t have a lot of useful information for you, Freddie.”

”Better than nothing. It’s a hot topic right now, you know.”

”Can you meet now?” He diverted.

”Right now?” 

”Right now.” 

”Reese’s cafè sound good then? I’m more comfortable if it’s a public area.” Will rolled his eyes at her petty remark.

”Fine by me. Be there in an hour.”

”Of course.” 

Will hung up on her, it was done.

He picked up his keys and headed out to his car, starting it up as he took off down the icy roads back into Baltimore city.

It didn’t take him long to get there, and he parked right in front of the coffee shop, seeing Freddie was already inside with her laptop and a coffee by her side. He got out of his car, shutting the door and making eye contact with the flaming haired Freddie Lounds as he started inside. Will opened the glass door, and she stood up, smiling cheekily at him.

“Nice to see you again, Mr. Graham.” 

“Can’t say I feel the same way.” He grunted before he took a seat across from her.

Freddie slowly sat back down, intertwining her gloved hands together. 

“What did you want to talk about so badly that you had to contact me?” She asked. 

Will chuckled bitterly. “Must be pretty unorthodox.”

”Tell me about the article you did on the Wendigo.”

She raised her brows, “The mythical creature some hunter said he saw?” 

“Yes.” He sighed.

“Is the FBI really getting so desperate that they’re turning to folk tales?” Will rolled his eyes.  
“Just tell me about the article.”

Freddie sighed and shrugged “He seemed shaken up, truly believed what he saw that’s for sure.” 

She leaned back, “You look a bit pale, you see something too”

“Who was the man?” Will asked, ignoring her comment.

”I can’t tell you that. He didn’t let me use his name.”

”Well, I’m not asking you to publish the man’s name. I’m asking you to tell me.” 

She paused.“What did you see?” Will stared at her, not answering for a moment before he slowly leaned forward, putting his arms on the table.

”Do you believe that man?” He asked. She turned her head to the side, eyeing Will cautiously.

“I believe him, but I don’t believe that it was a Wendigo, if that’s what you’re asking.” Will leaned back again and exhaled. 

“What do you think it is?” He asked. 

She took out her little recording box, taking out the earphones and tucking them away as she pressed record.”Why don’t you tell me, what you think it is, Mr. Graham?” Will glared at her.

”I don’t know what it is.”

“Is it some sort of animal?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “The...gore was, although savage, still purposeful in the way that certain organs had been ripped out and taken.“ He took a deep breath, “No wolf or bear rips out specific organs and eats them.” He said snidely.

“So the gore, as you put it, was only to get to the organs?”

”Yes, nothing else was touched.”

”Could it be a person then?” She asked.

”A person would have to have....some sort of claw to dig that deep into the skin to retrieve the organs.” She furrowed her brows, suddenly more interested in the case.

“So if it’s not a person, and not an animal, what could it be?”

”We don’t have any certain evidence, we’re ruling out any obvious suspects, but it seems the evidence is pointing more towards a person rather than an animal.”

”So is it possible was have a...savage cannibal on our hands?”

”It’s more likely than a rabid wolf pack.”

“Do you believe that it could possibly be the Wendigo?” She asked patronizingly. Will glared at her, staying quiet for a moment as he tried to choose his words carefully.

”The Wendigo is a Native American folk tail. We’re searching for something a little more...grounding.”

”You say “we” but I’m asking you more personally.”

”Anything could be possible.” He raised his head, “If it was a person, or a...cult of people, we would of been able to track where they came from.”

”You think it’s a cult of cannibal?”

”Personally, no.” Everything out of Will’s mouth leaked of sarcasm. Freddie sighed, and paused the recording.

“What did you see in the woods, Will? Honestly.”

”What’s the man’s name?” He retorted. Freddie leaned back and crossed her arms. She hesitated briefly, “I’ll tell you what I saw.” He offered.

”His names Elias Perch, he’s a hunter just outside of Baltimore. I can give you his address.” Will leaned forward and nodded, and Freddie wrote it down on a napkin and handed it to him. “Now what did you see?”

”Something I can’t bring myself to believe just yet.” She furrowed her brows and Will stood up. “I don’t recommend going into the woods alone for a photo shoot, Freddie.” He called back, “I don’t think it likes the rude.”


	4. Story Tellers

Will took the address and followed through with it, arriving at a very small, reclusive cabin. He parked his car, slowly walking up to the door before knocking firmly.

“Who is it!?” A male voice called from behind the door.

“My name’s Will Graham I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.” Will called back. 

He heard the sound of multiple locks being undone before the door was yanked open slightly. Will was met with a wild looking man. He had sunken brown eyes and a long brown beard. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks as dark circles laid under his eyes and his hair stuck out all over the place under a winter hat. The man looked past him, making sure no one was with him before turning back to him.

”You’re that FBI guy aren’t you?” He asked.”Special agent, are you Elias Perch?”

”I ain’t got nothing for you.” Will took a deep breath, “I’m not a crazy man, I done know what I saw! I know it! I wasn’t dreamin’ or nothin’. I ain’t gonna be patronized by some Rinky-dinky profiler either, so you can take you fancy ass and get back into—”

“I believe you.” Will stated. The man stopped, and blinked a few times, unsure if he heard the special agent correctly.

”What?—“

“I believe you.” Will said again, “And...I have reason to believe you and I saw the same thing.” The man swallowed hard and the nodded, opening the door and motioning him inside. Will walked in, and the man shut it, locking everything before he walked into his kitchen.

”Coffee?” He asked.

”Sure.” Will slowly sat down by a going fireplace, waiting as the man came back with two warm cups of coffee.

“Thank you”

”You really meant it, didn’t you? That you saw the thing.” Will nodded, “I see it in your eyes, the confusion. The fear. Wanted to make sure you done seen what you did, huh?” 

“Yes sir.” Will nodded.

”Found me through the tabloid journalist, Freddie Lounds huh?” He nodded again.

”She’s not going to publish your name, I just asked her for it.” He nodded a held the cup of coffee in his hand as he sat across from Will.

”What’d you see?” Elias asked. Will took a deep breath.

“A big...black humanoid figure with...branching antlers coming out of it’s head. It’s body was long and...lean like it didn’t have flesh but only black muscle.” Everything was sunken in, it was like... staring at a void.”

”You see the white eyes?” The man asked quickly.

”I saw them alright.” Will chucked, “It...spoke to me.” The man’s eyes widened. “It said “hi.” But...in my voice.” Will noticed the man gripping his cup tighter, his knuckles turning white.

”I heard it speak too, didn’t mention it to the lady because she’d think I’m proper insane.” She chuckled, “It spoke in my daughter’s voice. I took her hunting a few times in the forest before these killings happened. I followed after it thinkin’ that she’d gotten into some trouble, but I could-”

”never seem to get closer.” Will finished. The man nodded, “It barked like my dog.” He added. Both of them chuckled nervously. “When I got closer I realized that it was um...off.”

”Yeah, like it can’t quite get it right. That’s what done drove me away from it.”

”Did it attack you?”

”Tried to, stared me down. Aimed my gun at it and fired, missed my shot because I was shaking so damn much, but I got it mad. Started runnin’ at me so I started runnin’ too. I wasn’t too deep in the woods so once I got into the clearing it stopped, stared at me from the tree lines. I haven’t slept since.”

“You said you had a daughter?”

”Sent her off to her mother’s. It ain’t safe here no more, not for her.” Will leaned back, sipping his coffee, “What about you?”

“My dogs noticed it before I did. All of them were...off. I went out to investigate and one of my dogs got out so I followed him. The voice got me to go into the woods, and I came across a uh...deer corpse, torn like the rest of the victims. I found my dog there but...the thing barked again. That’s when I knew it wasn’t a dog.” Will took a deep breath, “it came at me— not like a rush or anything, but it slowly...crawled at me. I didn’t have a gun so I just....knelt down with it.” The man raised his brows. “It touched me how a human would touch another human, but it got scared off after someone I knew came into the woods looking for me.”

”Damn lucky to be alive.”

“I know.” Will scoffed, “I’m still not sure what I saw was entirely real. I had to go back to the spot to make sure.”

”We saw it alright, I know it I did the same thing.”

”I don’t know what I’m supposed to tell the FBI.”

”They never gonna believe us, Mr. Graham, not now, not ever. We just gotta let this case go cold, become a legend. Unless, someone kills the sonofabitch and brings back it’s corpse.” Will looked at him alarmed. He didn’t want to kill the creature.

“I-It only attacks if you attack it first.” Will pointed out “It’s more...curious than anything.”

”It’s an abomination.” The man grunted, “It needs to be hunted and killed. Even if you FBI guys cover it up.” Will sighed faintly.

“I think we should try to understand, just killing it would be fruitless.”

“It’s killed enough people, don’t need another body to drop just for some damn science.” The man finished his coffee and set it on the table in front of them. “The only reason you didn’t die was because it got a little snack before you arrived. You would have been dead meat otherwise.” Will settled into the sofa knowing that Elias could be right. 

They avoided each other’s eyes, spacing off as the remembered their vastly different experiences. One man driven by his bizarre curiosity, and the other driven by pure fear.

Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringing cut through the thick ambiance. Will cleared his throat as he dug into his pocket picking up the call before standing up.

”Hello?” Will asked.

”Will, it’s Jack.”

”Don’t tell me there’s another body...” Will sighed.

“Could of been. A man called saying he saw some sort of man eating a deer. Wouldn’t give much detail other than that, but I need you to come down here and confirm that the killing was the same as the rest of them.”

”You should be able to confirm it yourself, shouldn’t you?”

”We’re being thorough, Will. I’ll send you the location, be there ASAP.” Jack hung up, and Will turned to the Elias.

“Seems like we aren’t the only ones who saw it anymore.”


	5. A New Trail

Will left Elias Perch’s house, bidding him farewell before he got into his car and traveled over to the hot spot Jack sent him.

When he arrived he noticed Alana’s car was on the scene, as well as Jack who seemed less than pleased. In fact, he seemed annoyed.

the area Jack sent him to wasn’t at all wood like, in was in a neighborhood. However, Will did noticed the woods in the backyard. He got out of his car and walked over to Jack who was standing outside on the porch.   
“What is it?” Will asked.

“Based on what we were told...” he started, “a black humanoid figure.” Jack finished sarcastically, “Like the Freddie Lounds article.” Will let out a soft sigh. 

“Why’s Alana here?” He inquired.

”Psychoanalysis. Making sure this guy isn’t some schizophrenic and is just wasting our time.”

”Do you believe him?” Will asked.

”No, I don’t believe him. He’s sayin’ it’s some sort of weird beast, do I look like I believe that? Even if it was some other species of animal we don’t know about, I can’t take that to the Bearu.” Jack put his hands in his pockets before turning away from Will. He took a few steps away, inhaling deeply before he turned his head back towards Will “Are you sure it’s not an animal?” He pushed.

”I’m not sure of anything anymore...” Will admitted. 

Alana came back outside, shutting the door.”He seems sane. If anything, what he saw definitely shook him up, but he’s telling the truth from what I can tell.”

”Could it of been his imagination? It was early in the morning.”

”He’s pretty adamant about what he saw.” She sighed

”Can I talk to him?” Will asked, “Alone.” Alana and Jack glanced at one another, “Just for a reference. I mean there’s other accounts of what this thing is, if it matches up with the other witnesses...it could be something.”

”Or, he read a Freddie Lounds article and let it manifest into his imagination.” Jack pointed out. 

“Just let me talk to him.” He pushed past Jack and went into the house, shutting the door behind him as the man looked up. Will smiled faintly, approaching him slowly.

“Hi, My name’s Will Graham, I’m a special agent.”

”I already did my screening.” The man grunted. 

He looked like a regular man. Slicked back blonde hair with businessman attire. He probably woke up to get ready for work when he saw it, glanced into his backyard and saw it peering in at him.

”That’s...not why I’m talking to you.” Will put his hands into his pockets, “Can you describe to me what you saw?”

”Big black humanoid thing. Mixed with a deer even though it was eating one. White eyes. Looked like it stepped into a pool of tar.” Will nodded.

“Did it see you?”

”I saw it first, it was eating the poor animal through my window in my backyard. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me so I went outside with my shot gun just incase.” Will’s heart sank. “I looked at me and started to start so I...shot it twice. It made some sort of gurgling noise, before it screamed. Then it just...ran off.” 

“You shot it?” Will asked urgently.

”Of course I did!” The man shot back. WIll paused.

“Can you take us to the location where you saw it? The deer?”

”Only if you all come with me, I ain’t going back with only one person.” Will nodded and then left the room, the man standing up and following him.

”He said he’d show us the spot where he saw the being.” Will mentioned before the man got outside. 

“Jesus...” Jack scoffed.

”You said you wanted to be thorough, let’s be thorough.”

Jack, Will, and Alana followed the man to his backyard. The man clutching his shotgun firmly as he trudged through the grass.

“Will.” Jack put a hand against Will’s chest to stop him, “I need you to take this seriously.” Will narrowed his brows.

”What?”

”I don’t want you digging into this folk tale, whatever it is. You’re going to feed into their paranoia. No monster talk or whatever Freddie called it. Our best bet, is that its a person, or a group of people. Understand? Don’t go around and tell people otherwise.” Will went to protest, but then shut his mouth, realizing it would make him seem just as crazy as the man.

”I know.” He said.

“Good.” They caught up with Alana and the man, and the man stopped pointing into the woods. 

“There.” The man said shakily. “Saw it right over there.” Jack didn’t hesitate to start walking into the woods, starting in the direction o the man’s finger. Will glanced at the man, then followed after as Alana stayed back with the man. 

There was a deer alright, it had the same patterns of killing as the human victims, but something else remained.

”What the fuck is that?” Jack asked.

Will looked over to what Jack was staring at: a pool of black, shiny liquid, trailing into the woods. Some of it even hardened on trees as if it had planted it’s hand onto it. Jack knelt down.

”He did say he shot it twice.” Will mentioned slowly. Jack looked up at him, now just as unsure. He took out his phone, calling in a forensic team. 

Will turned back to the pool of, what he assumed to be, blood. He walked back through the woods to the man, leaving Jack on the phone.

”Where did you shoot it?” Will asked.

”Think I got it in the shoulder and chest, maybe the side.” The man’s eyes darted around, and he shuffled in place, too afraid to stay still. 

“Well, you found something. That’s for sure.”


	6. The Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just prepare yourself lmao

Will was now more worried about the beast than he was the actual victims. It was injured, probably bleeding out in the woods all alone. It could be scored. He needed to find it before someone else did, and he had a feeling he knew where it was going to be.

As night fell, he waited for Alana to make her nightly check up:

”Hey.” He called from his porch, seeing her walk through the snow, closing her coat around her tightly.

”Hi.” She smiled, walking up the steps.

”Did they figure out what that stuff was?” Will asked.

”Not yet, everyone at the forensic unit is perplexed. I wouldnt be surprised if they tried to cover this one up. Even Jack seems stuck.” Will nodded, and Alana stopped, eyeing him up and down. “You seem unbothered.”

“Oh I’m bothered.” Will reassured her, “I’m um....pretty worried actually.”

”About what this thing could be, or about the thing’s well being?” Will looked at her, “You were more concerned on where the thing was shot than the fact that this could be...inhuman.” Will leaned back in his chair.

”If it’s an animal of some sort, it’s injured right now.” He added.

”What did you see that night in the woods, Will? Was it the same thing everyone’s talking about?” Will stayed silent for a moment.

”No.” he lied, “I’m saying it’s an animal, not some creature. It...lives and breaths just like you and I do.” Alana searched his face, but Will closed her off, “We’ll find something eventually.” She glanced back into the woods, then at him again.

”You’re not planning on going back into the woods are you?” She asked. Will shook his head.

“That would make me seem...crazy.”

”I would have to agree.” They stood in silence, a light wind brushing through them.

“Well,” she started, ”it’s cold....and I’m uh...tired, so I’m gonna get going.” Will nodded.

”Drive safe.” Alana nodded, and headed back down the steps. He watched her leave before glancing back into the woods, waiting until he heard her car leave. 

Will got up, walking inside and grabbing a bunch of medical supplies, shoving them into a small little medical bag before he left his house, trudging back into the woods and snow. He picked up his pace, feeling as if he was starting to connect with this creature, feeling its pain and fear as he got further into the woods. He didn’t really understand why he wanted to help it so much. As far as he knew this thing would be waiting to kill him. It slashed and tore everything else it came across, why was it leaving Will alone? 

Will got through the heavy snow, reaching the more woody part of the forest and sticks and twigs snapped and crushed beneath him. He saw the clearing, and broke through it.

There it was. Laying against the only tree in the clearing, holding it’s side limply.

“Hi!” He called out softly. It’s reflexes weren’t as strong as it slowly looked at him.

”Hi.” It reverberated back in his voice. Will slowly walked towards it.

”I-I’m going to help you.” He called, holding up the bag he brought.

The being didn’t move as he got closer, seemingly comforted by his presences. Will slowly reached the beast, taking out a flashlight and shining it on it’s body. He watched the creature’s chest heave. It’s skin shimmering with the blood that trailed down it’s side and shoulder. 

Will opened the bag and took out a few white wads of cotton balls. He dabbed it’s shoulder, cleaning the blood away, it was the same consistency as human blood, but it had stained the white cotton balls a pitch black. Will kept glancing at the creature, it was staring at him curiously, not fully understanding what Will was doing. 

Will managed to stop the bleeding on both gun shot wounds, putting a white bandage around it’s side and over it’s shoulder. It contrasted greatly to the beings skin, but it didn’t seem to mind. 

The beast shifted quickly, and Will jumped a bit, looking over at it. He scoffed as he realized it had moved to scare him on purpose. It wanted to watch his reaction.  
”Well, that wasn’t very nice.” Will chuckled. 

“Hi.” It grunted again in the same lower voice Will had heard after it mimicked him. He sat down, staring at the creature.  
Will thought the beast was beautiful. How it stayed still under the moon light, it’s skin unbothered by the cold. It tilted it’s head at Will inquisitively before it slowly began to sit up off the tree. Will didn’t move as it inched towards him, putting it’s hands on the cold floor. It got into his face again, even it’s breath was cold against his skin.

Will closed his eyes a mixture of fear and arousal rising in him. It was a weird to feel such a thing as it breathed onto his neck. He was slightly confused as to why he was aroused by this, rather than something or someone more...normal. The beast leaned into his neck, inhaling deeply to take in his scent and lock it in it’s memory. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he forgot to suppress a soft gasp that seemed to amuse the creature.

It raised his arm placing it behind Will as it tried to get him on his back. Will slowly follow the silent demand, resting his head against the snow as he kept his eyes shut. The cold rising up through his jacket. The beast stared at him, studying his face before it touched him gently. The cool touch shocked Will’s face as his mouth fell slightly ajar. The beast touched his neck, going through the same motions as before. The entity used his long, spindly nails to caress his neck, dragging them down and leaving a fine, red line. It caught on Will’s shirt and it seemed unfamiliar and bothered by the material, huffing as it stared down at his shirt. Will opened his eyes, silently staring up at the creature as he tried to enter it’s mind. It was terrifying, having it loom over him so closely, but they felt so connected. Will slowly started to sit up, the creature allow him to, and moving up with him as it sat over him.

Will looked down at his shirt, and sighed shakily before he started to take off his coat. He moved to unbutton his shirt, his heart beating out of his chest as he slowly slid his shirt off his shoulders. The cold breezed through his skin, icing it almost immediately as Will shivered under the moonlight.

The creature huffed, and moved off of him. Both of them slowly started standing up, matching each others movements as they watched one another carefully. Will stared at the creature, and looked down at it’s waist, it was still tar, black like the rest of it’s body. He glanced again, and it did indeed have a big male reproductive organ that was blatantly visible. 

Will took a deep breath, meeting it’s eyes again before he slipped off his pants, hearing them fall against the snow as he carefully stepped out of them. He left his boxers behind as well, trying not to close off his body to the beast as the wind whipped around him. The creature tilted it’s head, and moved closer to him. Will hugged himself reluctantly, half out of fear, and half freezing as he was just as nude as the being. 

It began to circle him attentively, walking in a spiral as it got closer with each step. Will watched it, standing still, both bothering turning around to keep his eyes on the beast. He felt where he was, he felt it’s eyes piercing into him boorishly. It stopped directly behind him. Will held his breath as he listened to the sound of his own anxious breathing.

Then it hit him. The sudden shock of the beats hands slithering hastily in between his arms, shooting up and grabbing his chest as it started to hiss from behind him. Will cried out and threw his head up to the sky as his knees buckled slightly, the piercing claws beginning to push into his fragile skin. He gasped and heaved at the cold touch, putting his hands over the being’s arms as he groaned slightly as it dug.

His mind was racing, full of darkened thoughts he shared with the beast, as if their minds were starting to meld as it influenced Will’s consciousness. 

_Tear me apart, tear my vessel to pieces and gorge on my flesh. Rip me open and make me bleed as you feast on my body only. I want to feel the warmth of my blood raining down on my face and body, I want to see you in your glory. Devour me, devour me!_

Will’s eyes flew open, staring up at the full moon, the stars twinkling above him. His breath fogged in the air, giving the sky a misty affect as the beast held him, a low grumbling emanating from it’s throat. 

Will could feel droplets of warm blood trailing down his chest from the beast’s claws. He felt as if he was stuck in a trance, put under the beast’s spell as the only intention stuck in his mind was to be savagely eaten by it. The beast inched his claws down slightly, making a slit in Will’s skin as it tore his flesh deeply before it took out it’s claws. 

It had almost picked Will up from the floor, his back sticking to the entity’s chest before he suddenly let go of Will. 

Will collapsed to the floor on his back. His body, already iced over from the cold, was unaffected by the snow beneath him. He continued up at the moon, fixating on it before the beast came into his field of view, it’s head blocking out the moon. Will’s eyes fluttered, his breath getting hotter as he stared back. 

The beast slowly leaned down and grabbed his hips, lifting them up into the air with ease as Will slid, his back almost entirely off the floor as it was bringing his hips up to it’s face. 

“W-What are you doing?—“ 

It was then Will realized he had actually gotten hard. The alarming reaction made him grunt in a mixture of horror and fascination. He was so close to being eaten, so close to death and he had a hard on for it? It disturbed him, how could such a thing make him feel so pleased? It also made him think about who he really was. Will guessed he didn’t really know himself after all.

The beast opened it’s mouth slowly, revealing it’s long blank tongue. It almost looked sharp and he flinched as the creature took his cock inside it’s mouth. Will gasped and pushed his hands against the snow, bending his back over. He cried out helplessly as his eyes widened. It’s mouth was warm unlike the rest of the body, he could feel it’s tongue, long and pointed, wrapped around his cock all the way to the tip. 

“A-Aha~” Will shivered closing his eyes as he felt the tip of it’s tongue squeezing and rubbing his tip. Will felt as if he was getting closer to breaking his back as the stimuli continued to push him to his limit, his muscles tensing and pulling apart.

It raised him higher, up off the floor so his hands dangled inched from the snow. The beast rocked it’s head, staring him like two daggers aiming straight into his soul. It carefully watched his reaction, gripping his hips tightly as it could feel his muscles twisting and straining. It listened to his pathetic whimpers, his soft moans and grunts as the blood rushed up to his head and the wounds on his chest started dripping blood down to his neck. It was intrigued by his reaction, by his shivering body and pale skin as it glistened in the moonlight. 

“S-Stop..!~” Will cried out, pushing his hands against his face as tears formed in his eyes, unable to bear the stimulation. He pulled one of his knees up to his chest, resting his foot onto the being’s shoulder. “A-Ah~ Oh fuck!~” His voice pitched raised, squeaking out from his throat. 

The creature tightened it’s tongue around the tip of his cock, rubbing it smoothly as it coiled them uncoiled. Will’s body convulsed, his toes curled just like his back as he jolted, nearly bending his body in half as he came, howling out into the air. His voice echoed through the trees, breaking through the silence forest. 

All the tension in his body relaxed, dropping his hands and letting his head hang limply. A soft sigh escaped his lips as the beast slowly lowered his hips back onto the floor. It waited patiently for Will to sit up. Slowly, Will pushed himself up, the beast watching him as he rose and stumbled back onto his feet. 

Will lips were blue from the cold, his skin chafed from the whipping, icy wind. He wanted to feel warm, he wanted heat to fill his body and make him burst. Will was still breathing heavily as he started to back up to the tree behind him, the beast followed his movements, stepping forward as he stepped back until his back hit the tree. The beast exhaled heavily and slowly lowered it’s head to Will’s face. Will raised his head slightly staring down at it with his eyes in slits as the beast’s white eyes stared back. He put his hands on the tree behind him, glancing back him before he slowly turned around, extending his arms against the tree. The beast leaned back up as Will closed his eyes tiredly.

The beast stood behind him, grabbing his hips. Will squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a whimper before the beast shoved itself inside of him without warning. Will let out a sob, the beautiful sensation of pain and pleasure mixing together as his legs buckled. His arms unlocked, and he pressed himself up against the tree.

The beast thrusted into him, pushing Will against the tree as he gasped and sputtered defenselessly. Tears flowed from his eyes as he started to sob quietly. it was outrageously painful, but he accepted the pain, twisting it into pleasure as a dark awakening began to crack open inside of him. He wasn’t crying because it hurt, in fact, he didn’t know why he was crying. He thought it was beautiful, he thought the creature was beautiful. He was overwhelmed with joy and satisfaction, the emotion spurring from the beast itself.

Will insides heated the beast’s large organ. It twitched and pulsed inside of him as it tore through his walls, rubbing against them rhythmically as it was just as excited. 

Will felt like he was going insane, he felt himself spiraling down deeper into the beings darkness, afraid that he might turn into the beast himself. He thought he felt his own antlers sprouting from his head. 

Will tore the bark from the tree as his tears slowly rolled down his face, groaning as the beast filled up his insides with each thrust. He could barely breath. Something about being pounded against a tree outside with anyone being able to stumble upon them excited him. 

This beast could kill him at any moment, it could tear up through him and end his life, his masochistic mind was further pushed by the idea. A part of him he never knew he had, but this beautiful creature was pulling it out of him. 

The beast dug his nails into Will’s shoulder before quickly slashing down to his opposite side out of excitement. Four long wounds opened up, gushing blood as Will cried out, hanging his head as he watched blood drip onto the white snow, sinking in. He knew the beast didn’t mean to, it just got excited. He felt it’s tongue leaned down, licking the blood ferociously as if it wanted to contain the large blood-spill. 

Will smiled faintly, gasping and breathing audibly as the beast huffed. It planted it’s hoofs firmly into the floor as it started thrusting deeper and harder, lifting Will on his heels every time it thrusted. Will listened to it’s heavy breathing through his own weak cries. 

The beast grunted, and stomped it’s hoof again before it further pushed inside, hurting Will’s insides as it reached a deeper part of his body. Will’s feet hardly touched the floor as the being suddenly stopping moving. Will gasped pathetically, wincing as he tried to get his footing onto the snow, feeling his insides being filled with a thick warmth, spilling out from the place they were connected. His eyes rolled back into his head, drooling slightly as his legs twitched. Slowly, the beast pulled out of him, letting go as Will fell onto his side, blood spilling from his back and staining the snow.

His mind and body were mush, he was unable to think or speak, as his vision was blurred and his head spun. He was wheezing, only able to feel the stinging pain in his back before Will slowly closed his eyes, expecting to die in the snow.


	7. The man Behind the Beast

Will woke up on his stomach, his hands under a soft pillow as his head was resting on it’s side. He slowly opened his eyes, noting that it was weird he was on his back since he never voluntarily slept in that position. As his blurred vision cleared he stared at an unfamiliar red curtain. Slowly, he realized that this was not his house. Will furrowed his brows, taking his hands from under the pillow as he start to push himself up, but the stinging pain in his back made him stop.”A-Ah...ow.” He grunted groggily. Will furrowed his brows, feeling the tight pain on his back that tugged at his skin. He rolled his shoulder slightly, trying to get a feel for what it was. 

He gingerly rested on his forearm, as his other hand was pushing against the bed, rolling onto his side as he tried to sit up comfortably. He looked around the room. It was unfamiliar, and posh. There were a pair of antlers hanging on the wall in front of him, and as he looked around he realized he was alone in the room.

Will looked at himself in the mirror, and horrifically saw two antlers sprouting from his head, breaching out and growing further. He gasped, standing up quickly and reached up to his head, only to realize nothing was there. Will stopped, and looked back into the mirror, seeing they were gone. He had imagined it. The injured man slowly turned his back to the mirror, glancing around to see the four gashes in his back and been sewn up. 

Someone had saved him?Will slapped his hand to his face, someone had _seen_ him. He looked around the room, trying to find any clothes he recognized, but it seemed whoever it was didn’t pick up his clothes. However, on the edge of the large bed, he found a pair of boxer briefs and a grey sweater neatly folded together. Knowing that they were for him, he put them on and opened the room door.

“H-Hello?” He asked softly.

“Hello.” A voice responded, it was the same voice as the beast, low and timbre, but this time it was much clearer. Not as distorted as before. “Come out here.” It called.

Will slowly followed the voice down a short hallway leading into a living room. A tall, broad shouldered man stood by a harpsichord, a glass of water in his hand. Will furrowed his brows. He looked oddly familiar. 

The older gentleman’s hair was silver, softly flowing over his face. He had sunken brown eyes, high cheek bones and a strong straight nose. His lips had a soft Cupid’s bow that was coloured a rosy red. He looked well put together for it being so early in the morning— stunning even. He had on a blue satin robe with matching pants, and underneath was a navy blue sweater.

The longer Will stared at the man the more he began to match up the beast’s appearance with him. It was uncanny.

Will stepped back, finally realizing who he was.”Y-You’re the—....you’re the beast.” Will breathed. The man smiled.

”I am the beast.” He confirmed, slowly sitting down on the bench that sat in front of the harpsichord. 

“B-But you weren’t— how?” Will furrowed his brows, taking a small step forward to get a better look at him.

”It’s a long story, too much time will be lost trying to explain it all. But, when night falls one could say I...change. My own horrific desires flood to light. I form into my true becoming.” Will turned his head, still giving off a confused expression.

”You...Change?”

”I change.” The man confirmed, “Just as you have.”

“You’re telling me I could of just had normal sex with a man than whatever we did out there?” Will said, a slight scoff in his voice.

“Where’s the beauty in that? My desires and horrific tendencies were on display, yet you did not run away.” Will swallowed hard, “It’s a mutual understanding between beast and beauty, one that is deeply complex. You never exchanged a real word with me, only looks of understanding. That’s profound. It’s...beautiful.”

”I-I....I just wanted to help you.” the man held out his hand. 

“Of course you did.” Will walked over to him cautiously, “It takes a great amount of empathy to look past the horrors of what I grace you with.” The man turned his head slightly, catching a glimpse of his stitching work he preformed on Will, “I do have to apologize.” He admitted, “I never meant to slash you like that, so I am sorry...for tainting you flesh so deeply.” Will slowly grasped the man’s hand, his skin was warm and soft unlike the beast’s, “What’s your name?” He asked.

”Will Graham.” He answered, still trying to wrap his head around what happened.

”Will.” He smiled at the name.

”And you are?” Will asked.

”Well, if you don’t want to continue calling me “the Beast” I guess you could call me Hannibal.”

”Hannibal?” The man nodded in confirmation. “Wendigo only spawn if a they eat a _human’s_ flesh. Did you eat someone Hannibal?”

“I did.” He answered honestly, “Amongst other things.” He leaned back to take in Will fully with his eyes, “but I could not bring myself to eat you.”

”Why did you eat someone?”

”If I had known what was going to become, I would have still done it. To me human’s are no different from cattle or sheep, but it just so happens that if you eat someone who curses you, your fate may shift.” Hannibal let out a soft scoff. “I wouldn’t of needed to eat anybody if they had reacted the way you did. I would of stuck with deer for the night.” Will nodded. “Tell me, why did you react the way you did?”

”It was...more out of survival and....curiosity.” He admitted.

”Mh, pure mindless drive. All humans have a deep sense of curiosity. However, my Winston is: why did you seduce me?” He asked. Will scoffed and shook his head.

”It was hardly seduction on my part.” 

Hannibal chuckled, and nodded, realizing the boy was a lot more keen with his senses. He had indeed flirted with the brown haired man first, but he was unaware that he would pick up on it so keenly. 

“I did wonder if you would reciprocate, I got a lot more than I expected.” Hannibal admitted.

”You got precisely what you expected.” 

”In action, maybe. Not in beauty.” Hannibal leaned in closer to Will, “I could feel your emotions flowing through your blood, the utter pain and fear that drove you to your edge. Your body twisted and curled under your skin, yet you did not stop me, you had begged for more. That is what was beautiful.” 

Will stared into his eyes, they had the same emotion packed feeling as the white eyes, only now his emotions were much more transparent. 

“I will protect you, Will, in any form I take. I have found my post and I will hitch my beast to it, but will you protect me in return? Will you let me hitch my beast, and will you hold onto the reins no matter how hard they pull? Taming both sides of the fray.” 

Will dipped his head low, staring back at the man he felt he knew so well already. He knew exactly how he was going to answer, and the words spilled out before he could put any reason behind him:

“I will.”

“Then I will show you the way to your becoming.”


End file.
